The money is still guaranteed income, it's just far less than it should be, and that's a result of the Fed. trying to stimulate the economy by printing more money. You need to stop mixing up the stock portfolio risk takers, with the folks who purchase guaranteed, no risk investments.

As I keep saying, those who "bet the farm" on the idea that there would always be a freely available source of free money are idiots.

I'm well aware that when you buy a bond you get a price for the return of that bond.
and that's great an marvelous. but my point is.

if your ENTIRE pension strategy is:
that looks good, I should always be able to make [for example] 7.5% return in years 1-3 on my investment. then you fundamental did not understand the product.

There was never, and indeed never has been a cast iron guarentee on the performance of any financial product in real terms in the market place.

and if your retirement strategy was, I'll save and buy bonds as they are always good for it. then I have little sympathy that you are not making the returns you wanted.

the point is that your returns are not guaranteed past any point in time.
or past performance is not an indicator of future performance.
you may buy bonds with a good return rate today, but you do not know what the same bonds will be doing if you buy them tomorrow instead, or next year etc...

or indeed as I also said.

Your interest returns may not keep up with inflation. - which is written on every bond advertisement in this country.

which is the short way of saying,
0.3% return is ridiculous when inflation is running at 15 times that! or the spending power of your money is diminished with inflation. such that your investment may not work out as you

sure, your return (when you buy the product) is guaranteed, but whether that is a real-terms win or a real terms lose is still a gamble!

buying bonds is a gamble.

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I didn’t fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian…
Im sick of people saying 'dont waste paper'. If trees wanted to live, they'd all carry guns.
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; The inherent vice of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."